When one door closes, another will surely open.
I had a plan. A goal that I had been actively pursuing since I was a senior in high school. I was told time and time again during college that most people change their majors at least once, and they rarely get jobs in their field post graduation. The thing was, that wasn’t me. I was so confident and 100% sure that I was on the path God had laid out for me. I had found my calling in hospice Music Therapy, and I was going to dedicate the rest of my life to making this happen… Plans change though.
Yesterday was my last day at the music therapy job I so desperately wanted one year ago. The only job I could ever see myself doing. Should I feel sad? Disappointed in myself? Lost? For whatever reason this was not the case. As I ponder, I now believe I was always on the right path. Nothing is ever wasted, especially when it has been done with love. Life is composed of season after season, chapter after chapter in one great big book of experiences. Changing your mind or closing a door should be celebrated and welcome with open arms. We must be gentle with ourselves and find ways to be more in tune with our true desires.
I don’t regret the year I spent as a hospice music therapist, the 5 years I studied music therapy, or any of the people who came in and out of my life through the process. I don’t regret the countless hours of visiting patients or the 30,000 plus miles I drove in the process. I am proud of what I’ve done, and it will always be a part of me. While I never would have imagined I would quit my job after a year to pursue this business with my family, I am so happy I did. I am especially proud of myself for going with the tide and taking the plunge once I felt the time was right. The possibilities of my future are truly endless; in fact they always have been and always will be infinite. I now feel so much more capable of doing anything I choose, and I want you to feel that way too. Happy, free, and open to all of the options that may present themselves on the path we call life.
One thing I learned from hospice is that there will never be enough time. Life is hard enough without adding pressure on yourself to meet your own made-up expectations. I have friends who are starting families happily, who have opened their own businesses, and some who are still figuring it out. If at any step during the way you hear a little voice telling you that you want something more or something different, I urge you to hear it. Pray and meditate on it and in the end listen to your gut. If I can, I know you can too.
-Chloe